ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—The destruction of a refugee camp on the Syria-Turkey border may have been caused by a Jabhat al-Nusra rocket, said a Russian defense ministry spokesman.
“Judging from the nature of destruction seen on the photos and video recordings, the refugee camp could be attacked, intentionally or by mistake, from a multiple artillery rocket launcher,” Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told media on Friday, “which the Jebhat al-Nusra terrorist group has been actively using in the area.”
Kamuna refugee camp, located near Sarmada, in Idlib province, on the Syria-Turkey border, was hit in an attack on Thursday, killing more than 30 and injuring more than 80. Initial reports immediately after the attack blamed Russian or Syrian warplanes.
Russia has denied that their, or any other, planes were in the air over the area when the camp was hit on Thursday.
“We’ve closely studied the objective air space monitoring data for May 4 and 5, 2016,” Konashenkov said. “Neither Russian nor any other aircraft were flying over Sarmada.”
The Syrian army and the White House have also stated that none of their planes, or those of the coalition partners, could have been responsible.
Around 200,000 refugees are amassed on the border with Turkey, who is refusing to open the border.
“Judging from the nature of destruction seen on the photos and video recordings, the refugee camp could be attacked, intentionally or by mistake, from a multiple artillery rocket launcher,” Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told media on Friday, “which the Jebhat al-Nusra terrorist group has been actively using in the area.”
Kamuna refugee camp, located near Sarmada, in Idlib province, on the Syria-Turkey border, was hit in an attack on Thursday, killing more than 30 and injuring more than 80. Initial reports immediately after the attack blamed Russian or Syrian warplanes.
Russia has denied that their, or any other, planes were in the air over the area when the camp was hit on Thursday.
“We’ve closely studied the objective air space monitoring data for May 4 and 5, 2016,” Konashenkov said. “Neither Russian nor any other aircraft were flying over Sarmada.”
The Syrian army and the White House have also stated that none of their planes, or those of the coalition partners, could have been responsible.
Around 200,000 refugees are amassed on the border with Turkey, who is refusing to open the border.
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